Today's Thoughts 4/28/12 Americans And Prisoners
By Jeff Head
I originally wrote this article for a specific industry, but one of my readers informed me that it goes well for the whole country. Therefore, I decided a re-write might be in order. Let us see what happens.
The conditions are officially justified not as punishment for prisoners but as an *administrative* measure. Prisoners are placed in control units in *administrative* moves and since there are no rules governing such moves (in contrast to *punitive* moves), prisoners are denied any due process and prison officials can incarcerate any prisoner in a control unit for as long as they choose, without having to give any reason.
Sound familiar? I found the above statement while I was doing a little looking around on the internet just being bored in an article about controlling prisoners. I though how interesting as I was reading through it and the comparisons soon leaped into full view between what they do to control prisoners and what our government is doing to control Americans. Is that how they view us, as prisoners or perhaps future prisoners? Looking at the continuous administrative regulations that produce an environment of complete lock down on our ability to make the simplest decision or move on our own makes it look that way.
The effect on the prisoner after years of confinement and constant surveillance is devastation to the person that they were when they first entered the prison system. Being that they were murders, thiefs, and Lord only knows what it was they did before they arrived into our prison system; perhaps they deserve this kind of treatment from the rest of the world and it can be justified.
However, as a free people, what did we do to deserve this "administrative" anal exam from our government? Does that same paragraph read as follows when it comes to us?
The conditions are officially justified not as punishment for the average American but as an *administrative* measure. The public is placed into tight regulation in *administrative* moves and since there are no rules governing such moves (in contrast to *punitive* moves), the public is denied any due process and government officials can incarcerate any person with any regulation for as long as they choose, without having to give any reason.
The effects of these administrative rulings are the same on the public as they are on prisoners. Each group is demoralized and forced into a certain line of thinking or else. The only difference is that prisoners cannot leave the prison by choice; they are stuck there. Out here in the real world, a person in the public becomes demoralized because they will never stop beating them down. The person can never meet the expectations of the politically correct driven agenda. Therefore, the person just gives up and either enters the public assistance programs or just decides to become an outlaw. Either way, they are no longer a free person.
You cannot continue to treat hard working law-abiding citizens as prisoners and expect to end up with hard working law-abiding citizens. It just will not happen. Dear politicians with a Socialist agenda, we are not prisoners, please do not treat us as if we were. Instead, understand that we are a free people with a free spirit. America deserves a chance to survive. Please leave things as you found them.
Be safe peeps …
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Prisoners And Truckers
Today's Thoughts 4/27/12 Prisoners And Truckers
By Jeff Head
The conditions are officially justified not as punishment for prisoners but as an *administrative* measure. Prisoners are placed in control units in *administrative* moves and since there are no rules governing such moves (in contrast to *punitive* moves), prisoners are denied any due process and prison officials can incarcerate any prisoner in a control unit for as long as they choose, without having to give any reason.
Sound familiar? I found the above statement while I was doing a little looking around on the internet just being bored in an article about controlling prisoners. I though how interesting as I was reading through it and the comparisons soon leaped into full view between what they do to control prisoners and what our government is doing to control truck drivers. Is that how they view us, as prisoners or perhaps future prisoners? Looking at the continuous administrative regulations that produce an environment of complete lock down on our ability to make the simplest decision on our own makes it look that way.
The effect on the prisoner after years of confinement and constant surveillance is devastation to the person that they were when they first entered the prison system. Being that they were murders, thiefs, and Lord only knows what it was they did before they arrived into our prison system; perhaps they deserve this kind of treatment from the rest of the world and it can be justified.
However, as truck drivers, what did we do to deserve this "administrative" anal exam from our government? Does that same paragraph read as follows when it comes to us?
The conditions are officially justified not as punishment for truckers but as an *administrative* measure. Truckers are placed into tight regulation in *administrative* moves and since there are no rules governing such moves (in contrast to *punitive* moves), truckers are denied any due process and the FMCSA officials can incarcerate any trucker with any regulation for as long as they choose, without having to give any reason.
The effects of these administrative rulings are the same on truckers as they are on prisoners. Each group is demoralized and forced into a certain line of thinking or else. The only difference is that prisoners cannot leave the prison by choice; they are stuck there. Out here in the real world, a safe and legal truck drivers become demoralized because they will never stop beating them down. The driver can never meet the expectations of the politically correct driven FMCSA. The driver just gives up and either leaves the industry or just decides to run as an outlaw trucker. Either way, safer highways pay the price in the end.
You cannot continue to treat hard working law-abiding citizens as prisoners and expect to end up with safe and legal hard working law-abiding truck drivers. It just will not happen. Dear FMCSA, we are not prisoners, please do not treat us as if we were.
Be safe peeps …
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Copy and share as much as you like (-:
By Jeff Head
The conditions are officially justified not as punishment for prisoners but as an *administrative* measure. Prisoners are placed in control units in *administrative* moves and since there are no rules governing such moves (in contrast to *punitive* moves), prisoners are denied any due process and prison officials can incarcerate any prisoner in a control unit for as long as they choose, without having to give any reason.
Sound familiar? I found the above statement while I was doing a little looking around on the internet just being bored in an article about controlling prisoners. I though how interesting as I was reading through it and the comparisons soon leaped into full view between what they do to control prisoners and what our government is doing to control truck drivers. Is that how they view us, as prisoners or perhaps future prisoners? Looking at the continuous administrative regulations that produce an environment of complete lock down on our ability to make the simplest decision on our own makes it look that way.
The effect on the prisoner after years of confinement and constant surveillance is devastation to the person that they were when they first entered the prison system. Being that they were murders, thiefs, and Lord only knows what it was they did before they arrived into our prison system; perhaps they deserve this kind of treatment from the rest of the world and it can be justified.
However, as truck drivers, what did we do to deserve this "administrative" anal exam from our government? Does that same paragraph read as follows when it comes to us?
The conditions are officially justified not as punishment for truckers but as an *administrative* measure. Truckers are placed into tight regulation in *administrative* moves and since there are no rules governing such moves (in contrast to *punitive* moves), truckers are denied any due process and the FMCSA officials can incarcerate any trucker with any regulation for as long as they choose, without having to give any reason.
The effects of these administrative rulings are the same on truckers as they are on prisoners. Each group is demoralized and forced into a certain line of thinking or else. The only difference is that prisoners cannot leave the prison by choice; they are stuck there. Out here in the real world, a safe and legal truck drivers become demoralized because they will never stop beating them down. The driver can never meet the expectations of the politically correct driven FMCSA. The driver just gives up and either leaves the industry or just decides to run as an outlaw trucker. Either way, safer highways pay the price in the end.
You cannot continue to treat hard working law-abiding citizens as prisoners and expect to end up with safe and legal hard working law-abiding truck drivers. It just will not happen. Dear FMCSA, we are not prisoners, please do not treat us as if we were.
Be safe peeps …
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Copy and share as much as you like (-:
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Farmers And Truckers
Today's Thoughts 4/26/12 Farmers And Truckers
A long time ago, just about the end of the last ice age it seems, I pulled onto a Florida farm to pick up a load of potatoes. I love picking up at farms. I do not think I have ever been to a farm that they did not treat the truckers that came to pick up their goods just as if they were part of the family. The larger farms always have kitchens and a trip through that chow line always means being treated to some fantastic local dishes. Still cooked the same way and cooking the same food that they did a hundred years ago. I always consider it a treat when I book a farm load.
Anyway, on this particular morning being that we all spent the night at a marshalling yard for several different farms, one farmer showed up just about day light with coffee and donuts for everyone. As I have already said, farmers are just downright nice people so no big surprise. As we were all were kicked back in the shed, we sat around talking about the world in general. Today's farmer had something to say that has stuck with me through the years, "Farmers and truckers have one thing in common, that being that we are both rate takers, not rate makers."
What did he mean by that? Simple fact is that no matter what we charge for our goods or our services, we will never be paid more then what others decide to pay us. The farmer with his crop of potatoes can only hold out so long before his crop starts to rot in the field. Brokers know this and use it to their advantage. The longer that the market goes without fresh product, the more expensive and the higher the profit goes at market. When the farmer finally decides to sell, he is forced to do so at a lower price before his crop is no longer sellable. Capitalism at its finest.
Truckers are in the same position. The more trucks you have available in a area the lower the freight rates go. I can charge a rate that is high enough as to make a profit, but if the brokers have a over abundance of trucks that have sat long enough to need to move the truck just to make some cash flow, then I will sit until I'm forced to move to make ends meet myself. It is only when there is a shortage of potatoes or trucks that either group can make a profit.
Under normal market circumstances, a profit can be made over time. Throw in as they have done increasingly over the years more and more government regulation and neither group can survive for long. Understanding the fact that we cannot control the cost to provide our product or services, and understanding the fact that we have no control of the price we sell them at; we simply fail one by one until a point is reached that our perspective services or goods are so far depleted that the brokers have no choice but to pay us more until we can finally survive again.
In the end, the general population ends up paying this price as they buy the goods we produce and transport at the market place. It is the single moms and the poor that cannot afford this extra cost that wind up bearing it. The process also adds more and more to the government rolls thus increasing the cost to government, which in turns adds to the need to increase taxes to keep up with the increasing cost of government support.
Round and round we go further into debt as the government tries to save us from ourselves. It is time for the FMCSA and other government entities to start understanding this process and start backing out of interfering in the market place. To survive and be able to run safe and legal trucks or potato farms, we need room to make a profit. Smother us in government over regulation, many of us we will soon go away. The costs of this process will only hurt the very ones that can least afford to bear it and the very ones that the government is trying to save them from us.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
A long time ago, just about the end of the last ice age it seems, I pulled onto a Florida farm to pick up a load of potatoes. I love picking up at farms. I do not think I have ever been to a farm that they did not treat the truckers that came to pick up their goods just as if they were part of the family. The larger farms always have kitchens and a trip through that chow line always means being treated to some fantastic local dishes. Still cooked the same way and cooking the same food that they did a hundred years ago. I always consider it a treat when I book a farm load.
Anyway, on this particular morning being that we all spent the night at a marshalling yard for several different farms, one farmer showed up just about day light with coffee and donuts for everyone. As I have already said, farmers are just downright nice people so no big surprise. As we were all were kicked back in the shed, we sat around talking about the world in general. Today's farmer had something to say that has stuck with me through the years, "Farmers and truckers have one thing in common, that being that we are both rate takers, not rate makers."
What did he mean by that? Simple fact is that no matter what we charge for our goods or our services, we will never be paid more then what others decide to pay us. The farmer with his crop of potatoes can only hold out so long before his crop starts to rot in the field. Brokers know this and use it to their advantage. The longer that the market goes without fresh product, the more expensive and the higher the profit goes at market. When the farmer finally decides to sell, he is forced to do so at a lower price before his crop is no longer sellable. Capitalism at its finest.
Truckers are in the same position. The more trucks you have available in a area the lower the freight rates go. I can charge a rate that is high enough as to make a profit, but if the brokers have a over abundance of trucks that have sat long enough to need to move the truck just to make some cash flow, then I will sit until I'm forced to move to make ends meet myself. It is only when there is a shortage of potatoes or trucks that either group can make a profit.
Under normal market circumstances, a profit can be made over time. Throw in as they have done increasingly over the years more and more government regulation and neither group can survive for long. Understanding the fact that we cannot control the cost to provide our product or services, and understanding the fact that we have no control of the price we sell them at; we simply fail one by one until a point is reached that our perspective services or goods are so far depleted that the brokers have no choice but to pay us more until we can finally survive again.
In the end, the general population ends up paying this price as they buy the goods we produce and transport at the market place. It is the single moms and the poor that cannot afford this extra cost that wind up bearing it. The process also adds more and more to the government rolls thus increasing the cost to government, which in turns adds to the need to increase taxes to keep up with the increasing cost of government support.
Round and round we go further into debt as the government tries to save us from ourselves. It is time for the FMCSA and other government entities to start understanding this process and start backing out of interfering in the market place. To survive and be able to run safe and legal trucks or potato farms, we need room to make a profit. Smother us in government over regulation, many of us we will soon go away. The costs of this process will only hurt the very ones that can least afford to bear it and the very ones that the government is trying to save them from us.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Reasonably Assured
Today's Thoughts 4/24/12 Reasonably Assured
Can I be reasonably assured? That was the question for myself as I woke up in the bunk of my truck for about the millionth time again today. Can I be reasonably assured that after driving one kind of truck or the other for the last thirty odd years that the government will let me continue in my career choice for another thirty years if I so decide to do so? This old rig of mine is already eleven years old and no longer allowed into the state of California. I know it is time to update and buy new equipment but I have to ask, can I be reasonably assured that the government will not change the rules in the middle of me paying off a new rig leaving me bankrupted and losing everything?
Can I be reasonably assured that after dealing with the sleep apnea crowd forcing their ideology out of my wallet that the government will not decide that I need to buy into the next best greatest medical gadget that comes alone? Will I be able to afford to pay for that or will I even after years of safe driving find myself being tossed out from the industry because I no longer fit the body size and shape the government decides I should fit to be a safe truck driver. Funny, I do not remember killing anyone yet I have to worry about being tossed out because someone thinks I might if I do not comply with whatever they can think up.
Can I be reasonably assured that if I do decide to take the chance to buy a new truck, that in the five or so years that it takes to pay it off, that the EPA will not come in and change the rules making my new equipment illegal to use anymore. If not the EPA, who knows what branch will decide to change some rule. Will the new forced technology even hold up to real world conditions or will I end up as a lot of truckers I know and spend more time in the shop then out on the road making payments.
Can I be reasonably assured that the EPA will not decide that the fuel we use now needs to be changed again, for whatever reason they deem necessary. The cost to meet the new requirement could sky rocket once again out of control. If not the EPA, then who knows what government agency will decide to stick their new and politically correct head into the mix, I know propane is already being looked at as the new forced technology to fuel trucks. How much will those new regulations cost me to comply with?
The answer to all these questions and many more just like them is no, I cannot be reasonably assured of anything at this point in time. With the FMCSA on its scorched earth policy to prevent any truck anywhere from ever again being in an accident, no one can be reasonably assured of anything. Even if a trucker takes the step today to upgrade to safer equipment, or to even consider taking out a loan to put themselves through truck driving school, no one can be reasonably assured that the government will not change the rules tomorrow and bankrupt them right out of trucking existence.
No one can be reasonably assured that if they make the decision to even become a trucker that they will be allowed to be a trucker for more than about five years before they no longer meet the ever changing medical requirements set forth by the government. No one can be reasonably assured of anything at the pace they are changing the rules to keep us killer truckers from delivering America. We can no longer be reasonably assured of anything.
So not being able to be reasonably assured is supposed to make me a safer trucker. Pretty cool, do you not think? Even a brand new young driver cannot be reasonably assured the they will still be qualified in just a few short years into their career decision. They could be tossed out with the next regulation before ever gaining the experience needed to be a safe driver? Who in their right mind would even consider a truck-driving career knowing that they cannot be reasonably assured of it lasting long enough to break even before they are tossed?
And why should I stand up to those that will force me to run unsafe and illegal when I know the government is only making it harder for a safe and legal truck drivers to feed their family running safe and legal. How can I be reasonably assured of anything about trucking at this point in the game? The plain and simple answer is that I cannot in any way, shape or form be reasonably assured of but one thing. I will be shut down well before I have any need or want to be shut down. I will be shut down in the name of safety, political correctness, whatever you want to call it, I will be shut down. That Sir, I can be reasonably assured of.
After years working as an advocate for safe and legal truck drivers, I can tell you that at one time progress was being made. Driver after driver put down their renegade ways and became themselves advocates for safe and legal truck drivers. No longer can I say this to be true. I can now be reasonably assured that the heavy hand of government is now turning more and more hard working decent drivers into the outlaw truckers that we fought so hard and so long to get off of our nation's highways. And where once I would approach them and speak about the virtues of running safe and legal, now as I see them I have to ask who can blame them.
The FMCSA can be reasonably assured that if they continue the heavy-handed jack-booted government intervention that they have deemed necessary to bring down upon thousands of safe and legal truck drivers, they will in the end do more harm than good. Yes we need regulation but not to the point of the extinction of safe and legal truck drivers. No one can operate a safe and legal truck unless they can be reasonably assured of existence beyond the next new regulation.
Reasonably assured; something that safe and legal truck drivers in today's word can no longer be. I know as does every truck driver out on that highway that if even just one death occurs, it is one death to many. We know this; we live this everyday of our lives. What the FMCSA has to come to understand is two things. You cannot regulate just truck drivers and leave the rest of the vehicals along and solve this problem. If you cannot regulate the rest of them, perhaps trying to educate them in how to better share the road with us truckers might be a thing.
The second thing the FMCSA needs to know is to reach their goal of zero accidents between cars and trucks out on the highways; one of us has to go. So long as cars and trucks share the same highways, there will unfortunately be deaths involved. The question the FMCSA needs to answer is this; will that death involve a renegade trucker because they themselves force safe and legal truckers out of existence? I very much pray that the FMCSA takes a step back and sees the harm that they are doing by over regulating us. I hope they decide to work with safe and legal truck drivers instead of driving them to the point of extinction. Continue as they are and they can be reasonably assured that this will happen.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Can I be reasonably assured? That was the question for myself as I woke up in the bunk of my truck for about the millionth time again today. Can I be reasonably assured that after driving one kind of truck or the other for the last thirty odd years that the government will let me continue in my career choice for another thirty years if I so decide to do so? This old rig of mine is already eleven years old and no longer allowed into the state of California. I know it is time to update and buy new equipment but I have to ask, can I be reasonably assured that the government will not change the rules in the middle of me paying off a new rig leaving me bankrupted and losing everything?
Can I be reasonably assured that after dealing with the sleep apnea crowd forcing their ideology out of my wallet that the government will not decide that I need to buy into the next best greatest medical gadget that comes alone? Will I be able to afford to pay for that or will I even after years of safe driving find myself being tossed out from the industry because I no longer fit the body size and shape the government decides I should fit to be a safe truck driver. Funny, I do not remember killing anyone yet I have to worry about being tossed out because someone thinks I might if I do not comply with whatever they can think up.
Can I be reasonably assured that if I do decide to take the chance to buy a new truck, that in the five or so years that it takes to pay it off, that the EPA will not come in and change the rules making my new equipment illegal to use anymore. If not the EPA, who knows what branch will decide to change some rule. Will the new forced technology even hold up to real world conditions or will I end up as a lot of truckers I know and spend more time in the shop then out on the road making payments.
Can I be reasonably assured that the EPA will not decide that the fuel we use now needs to be changed again, for whatever reason they deem necessary. The cost to meet the new requirement could sky rocket once again out of control. If not the EPA, then who knows what government agency will decide to stick their new and politically correct head into the mix, I know propane is already being looked at as the new forced technology to fuel trucks. How much will those new regulations cost me to comply with?
The answer to all these questions and many more just like them is no, I cannot be reasonably assured of anything at this point in time. With the FMCSA on its scorched earth policy to prevent any truck anywhere from ever again being in an accident, no one can be reasonably assured of anything. Even if a trucker takes the step today to upgrade to safer equipment, or to even consider taking out a loan to put themselves through truck driving school, no one can be reasonably assured that the government will not change the rules tomorrow and bankrupt them right out of trucking existence.
No one can be reasonably assured that if they make the decision to even become a trucker that they will be allowed to be a trucker for more than about five years before they no longer meet the ever changing medical requirements set forth by the government. No one can be reasonably assured of anything at the pace they are changing the rules to keep us killer truckers from delivering America. We can no longer be reasonably assured of anything.
So not being able to be reasonably assured is supposed to make me a safer trucker. Pretty cool, do you not think? Even a brand new young driver cannot be reasonably assured the they will still be qualified in just a few short years into their career decision. They could be tossed out with the next regulation before ever gaining the experience needed to be a safe driver? Who in their right mind would even consider a truck-driving career knowing that they cannot be reasonably assured of it lasting long enough to break even before they are tossed?
And why should I stand up to those that will force me to run unsafe and illegal when I know the government is only making it harder for a safe and legal truck drivers to feed their family running safe and legal. How can I be reasonably assured of anything about trucking at this point in the game? The plain and simple answer is that I cannot in any way, shape or form be reasonably assured of but one thing. I will be shut down well before I have any need or want to be shut down. I will be shut down in the name of safety, political correctness, whatever you want to call it, I will be shut down. That Sir, I can be reasonably assured of.
After years working as an advocate for safe and legal truck drivers, I can tell you that at one time progress was being made. Driver after driver put down their renegade ways and became themselves advocates for safe and legal truck drivers. No longer can I say this to be true. I can now be reasonably assured that the heavy hand of government is now turning more and more hard working decent drivers into the outlaw truckers that we fought so hard and so long to get off of our nation's highways. And where once I would approach them and speak about the virtues of running safe and legal, now as I see them I have to ask who can blame them.
The FMCSA can be reasonably assured that if they continue the heavy-handed jack-booted government intervention that they have deemed necessary to bring down upon thousands of safe and legal truck drivers, they will in the end do more harm than good. Yes we need regulation but not to the point of the extinction of safe and legal truck drivers. No one can operate a safe and legal truck unless they can be reasonably assured of existence beyond the next new regulation.
Reasonably assured; something that safe and legal truck drivers in today's word can no longer be. I know as does every truck driver out on that highway that if even just one death occurs, it is one death to many. We know this; we live this everyday of our lives. What the FMCSA has to come to understand is two things. You cannot regulate just truck drivers and leave the rest of the vehicals along and solve this problem. If you cannot regulate the rest of them, perhaps trying to educate them in how to better share the road with us truckers might be a thing.
The second thing the FMCSA needs to know is to reach their goal of zero accidents between cars and trucks out on the highways; one of us has to go. So long as cars and trucks share the same highways, there will unfortunately be deaths involved. The question the FMCSA needs to answer is this; will that death involve a renegade trucker because they themselves force safe and legal truckers out of existence? I very much pray that the FMCSA takes a step back and sees the harm that they are doing by over regulating us. I hope they decide to work with safe and legal truck drivers instead of driving them to the point of extinction. Continue as they are and they can be reasonably assured that this will happen.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Monday, April 23, 2012
Are Truckers Human?
Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 4/23/12 Are Truckers Human?
"I was wondering, if we as truckers had just one or two messages that we felt important for the politicians and general public to know about trucker issues and their way of life, what do you think that message should be?" I asked this question the other day on one of the trucking sites that I visit from time to time. I received back several different responses. Lack of safe parking was one response, over regulation another. The FMCSA allowing bad companies to continue to operate and of course the old hours of service rules was not far behind and added to the list. Right up top though, the first response, was the one that really caught my eye. "That we're HUMAN, just like everyone else." What a statement and it really got me to thinking. Does anyone even know that humans drive these trucks? Does anyone even care?
While I am taking some time to ponder this, I find myself trying to figure out a way to compare the average everyday human to the average everyday truck driver. What are some of the same things each of these two groups do that might be the same? For one thing, we both work to be able to feed our families. A corporate big wig goes in and works long hard hours as at his office as do truck drivers out here on the road in our mobile office. That is the same.
A traveling salesperson stays away from home for months on end visiting customer after customer just like a traveling truck driver visiting dock after dock delivering the very goods that the salesperson sold. We both eat most of our meals away from home and spend countless hours calling long distance to talk to little Jenny or Johnny and the Mrs. and that it will still be weeks before we can give them a real hug instead of just a spoken one over the phone. I know that that might sound a little funny but I guess it is just a human thing to want to be with your loved ones.
Let us see here, what else do we have? Both groups feel pain, physical and mental and they both bleed real red blood as well. Each group gets sick from time to time from the same type of viruses and when they do; both groups use the same medications to regain their health. Each group gets tired and when they do, they lie down and rest. Everything sounds comparable so far, do you not think?
Each group in general has specific times that they have to start their day and when their work is done, they kick back and relax. Everyone eats and of course we all have our own version of what we consider winding down time. A few might enjoy a cold beer while others might enjoy a Sunday morning at the church. Sounds like to me that both groups have multiple things in common. Even the fact that each group enjoys a shower every now and then might be found in common with both groups. Surly a truck driver is just as human as an everyday normal person is out there in the general public.
So let us look at some of the uncommon things between the two groups. Let us see now, when the corporate big wig goes in and works a seventy hour week, they are considered hard working and a proud member of the community. Let a trucker put in a long seventy hour week and they are considered a threat to society, a killer among men. A traveling salesperson has been the butt of many of jokes and everyone loves the stories that come out of their conventions. Let truckers get together down at the truck stop, lord only knows what kind of drugs they are doing and how many shady women must be hanging around.
A salesperson eats the same unhealthy food served at whatever restaurant that just happens to be nearest but they do not have to worry about the government stepping in and shutting them down because they are now too fat and unhealthy to work anymore. And of course the calls home to the family. With today's new cell phone regulations on truck drivers, sure we can still call, if we do not mind taking a chance on getting a twenty seven hundred dollar fine by doing so. Of course, we can always pull over to make the call but eventually, if we do not deliver the freight, they will hire someone who will.
Each group feels pain and they both get sick while away from home. The difference here is people that travel can pull into any medical facility and get all the help they need. Try to find a medical facility that you can get an eighteen-wheeler into, which is a fun thing to do. Of course, it was tried a few years ago to bring the medical facilities right out to the truck stops so that truckers could have access to the same basic medical care anyone in town had. Of course, town after town figured a way to block such things at truck stops. You could put in an arcade or perhaps a donut shop, but not a doctor's office in most locations. A silly idea to begin with as you might guess.
Kicking back is different too. You might chance a cold beer while taking an extra long weekend off out on the road. Go back to your truck and crawl in the sleeper for a good night's rest, and you might find yourself with a DUI while another person that travels can sleep it off comfortably in their rented room. Sit in the driver's seat of your vehicle reading a book while it might catch a normal person a quick glance by a passing officer of the law, may in fact bring a truck driver a ticket for taking their government-mandated time off sitting up instead of lying down.
Showers to a normal person are an everyday thing. For a truck driver, on most days showers can be worked in without much problem. But let a normal person hold up a truck driver on the dock, cause them to be running late and unable to find a decent place to park, and it might be days before a shower can be worked in. And of course we talked about being able to attend church. Well for a truck driver if there just happens to be one at the truck stop you end up at on Sunday morning, awesome. If not, you are on your own that week.
I think the biggest difference drilled into most truck drivers heads is the logbook. For most people in the general public, when you get tired you lay down. When decide to get up, you get up. In addition, when you decide to go to the bathroom, you do not have to fill out a government form explaining where, when and how long it took you.
As a truck driver, you have to do this under penalty of law. Rules governing this logbook are set in stone. People sitting behind a desk somewhere up there in Washington DC decide these things. Somehow, they know that due to the fact that a person drives a truck, they will be tired at a certain time of day, and they will wake up at a certain time also. Well rested of course. That by the powers of all they be, dictate by that one little form, what time I need to go to bed. What time I need to get up regardless of the fact that they may or may not be tired. They demand it be explained explain every time they stop for a restroom break or just to tie their shoes. Drivers have to tell Uncle Sam all these things and more or face penalties if they chance not doing it. Somehow, they do not tell all the people that actually have control over that truck that they need to keep them moving so they can follow that law. No, that is the truck drivers problem you see.
Lets look back at the original questions now; "Does anyone even know that humans drive these trucks? Does anyone even care?" I think that most people do know that humans drive trucks. I do not think though that anyone really cares how inhuman and over regulated the industry has left drivers being treated. It is easy to look a person in the eye and have compassion for them. It is also much easier to sit back at the house watching the evening news and buy what is being sold to the public about a person that does the same thing they do in everyday life, just in a different way.
I often think as I fill the empty hours driving the long highways, just how a normal person might feel if they were given the chance to live the life of a trucker for just one week, perhaps even just one day. Would they still feel the same way and think every second of every day needs to be dictated by some far away politician. Would they still feel that even though truck drivers are indeed just as human as they are, that they need to be chained and shackled by regulations like a sub-humanoid to keep them under control? I doubt it.
I know that there are many outside of the trucking industry that know and understand just what the trucking community does to keep our Great Nation alive and well. But as you can look back into history and see for yourself, one human is always trying to keep another human under their control. Folks, I believe that fact is just a human thing. Perhaps as with many other aspects of our modern day society, truck drivers will one day find themselves being looked upon on the same level of humanity as the rest of the society is. We can only hope. Hope, now that is human, guess we qualify after all.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
"I was wondering, if we as truckers had just one or two messages that we felt important for the politicians and general public to know about trucker issues and their way of life, what do you think that message should be?" I asked this question the other day on one of the trucking sites that I visit from time to time. I received back several different responses. Lack of safe parking was one response, over regulation another. The FMCSA allowing bad companies to continue to operate and of course the old hours of service rules was not far behind and added to the list. Right up top though, the first response, was the one that really caught my eye. "That we're HUMAN, just like everyone else." What a statement and it really got me to thinking. Does anyone even know that humans drive these trucks? Does anyone even care?
While I am taking some time to ponder this, I find myself trying to figure out a way to compare the average everyday human to the average everyday truck driver. What are some of the same things each of these two groups do that might be the same? For one thing, we both work to be able to feed our families. A corporate big wig goes in and works long hard hours as at his office as do truck drivers out here on the road in our mobile office. That is the same.
A traveling salesperson stays away from home for months on end visiting customer after customer just like a traveling truck driver visiting dock after dock delivering the very goods that the salesperson sold. We both eat most of our meals away from home and spend countless hours calling long distance to talk to little Jenny or Johnny and the Mrs. and that it will still be weeks before we can give them a real hug instead of just a spoken one over the phone. I know that that might sound a little funny but I guess it is just a human thing to want to be with your loved ones.
Let us see here, what else do we have? Both groups feel pain, physical and mental and they both bleed real red blood as well. Each group gets sick from time to time from the same type of viruses and when they do; both groups use the same medications to regain their health. Each group gets tired and when they do, they lie down and rest. Everything sounds comparable so far, do you not think?
Each group in general has specific times that they have to start their day and when their work is done, they kick back and relax. Everyone eats and of course we all have our own version of what we consider winding down time. A few might enjoy a cold beer while others might enjoy a Sunday morning at the church. Sounds like to me that both groups have multiple things in common. Even the fact that each group enjoys a shower every now and then might be found in common with both groups. Surly a truck driver is just as human as an everyday normal person is out there in the general public.
So let us look at some of the uncommon things between the two groups. Let us see now, when the corporate big wig goes in and works a seventy hour week, they are considered hard working and a proud member of the community. Let a trucker put in a long seventy hour week and they are considered a threat to society, a killer among men. A traveling salesperson has been the butt of many of jokes and everyone loves the stories that come out of their conventions. Let truckers get together down at the truck stop, lord only knows what kind of drugs they are doing and how many shady women must be hanging around.
A salesperson eats the same unhealthy food served at whatever restaurant that just happens to be nearest but they do not have to worry about the government stepping in and shutting them down because they are now too fat and unhealthy to work anymore. And of course the calls home to the family. With today's new cell phone regulations on truck drivers, sure we can still call, if we do not mind taking a chance on getting a twenty seven hundred dollar fine by doing so. Of course, we can always pull over to make the call but eventually, if we do not deliver the freight, they will hire someone who will.
Each group feels pain and they both get sick while away from home. The difference here is people that travel can pull into any medical facility and get all the help they need. Try to find a medical facility that you can get an eighteen-wheeler into, which is a fun thing to do. Of course, it was tried a few years ago to bring the medical facilities right out to the truck stops so that truckers could have access to the same basic medical care anyone in town had. Of course, town after town figured a way to block such things at truck stops. You could put in an arcade or perhaps a donut shop, but not a doctor's office in most locations. A silly idea to begin with as you might guess.
Kicking back is different too. You might chance a cold beer while taking an extra long weekend off out on the road. Go back to your truck and crawl in the sleeper for a good night's rest, and you might find yourself with a DUI while another person that travels can sleep it off comfortably in their rented room. Sit in the driver's seat of your vehicle reading a book while it might catch a normal person a quick glance by a passing officer of the law, may in fact bring a truck driver a ticket for taking their government-mandated time off sitting up instead of lying down.
Showers to a normal person are an everyday thing. For a truck driver, on most days showers can be worked in without much problem. But let a normal person hold up a truck driver on the dock, cause them to be running late and unable to find a decent place to park, and it might be days before a shower can be worked in. And of course we talked about being able to attend church. Well for a truck driver if there just happens to be one at the truck stop you end up at on Sunday morning, awesome. If not, you are on your own that week.
I think the biggest difference drilled into most truck drivers heads is the logbook. For most people in the general public, when you get tired you lay down. When decide to get up, you get up. In addition, when you decide to go to the bathroom, you do not have to fill out a government form explaining where, when and how long it took you.
As a truck driver, you have to do this under penalty of law. Rules governing this logbook are set in stone. People sitting behind a desk somewhere up there in Washington DC decide these things. Somehow, they know that due to the fact that a person drives a truck, they will be tired at a certain time of day, and they will wake up at a certain time also. Well rested of course. That by the powers of all they be, dictate by that one little form, what time I need to go to bed. What time I need to get up regardless of the fact that they may or may not be tired. They demand it be explained explain every time they stop for a restroom break or just to tie their shoes. Drivers have to tell Uncle Sam all these things and more or face penalties if they chance not doing it. Somehow, they do not tell all the people that actually have control over that truck that they need to keep them moving so they can follow that law. No, that is the truck drivers problem you see.
Lets look back at the original questions now; "Does anyone even know that humans drive these trucks? Does anyone even care?" I think that most people do know that humans drive trucks. I do not think though that anyone really cares how inhuman and over regulated the industry has left drivers being treated. It is easy to look a person in the eye and have compassion for them. It is also much easier to sit back at the house watching the evening news and buy what is being sold to the public about a person that does the same thing they do in everyday life, just in a different way.
I often think as I fill the empty hours driving the long highways, just how a normal person might feel if they were given the chance to live the life of a trucker for just one week, perhaps even just one day. Would they still feel the same way and think every second of every day needs to be dictated by some far away politician. Would they still feel that even though truck drivers are indeed just as human as they are, that they need to be chained and shackled by regulations like a sub-humanoid to keep them under control? I doubt it.
I know that there are many outside of the trucking industry that know and understand just what the trucking community does to keep our Great Nation alive and well. But as you can look back into history and see for yourself, one human is always trying to keep another human under their control. Folks, I believe that fact is just a human thing. Perhaps as with many other aspects of our modern day society, truck drivers will one day find themselves being looked upon on the same level of humanity as the rest of the society is. We can only hope. Hope, now that is human, guess we qualify after all.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Still Whacking Sleep Apnea
Today's Thoughts 4/21/12 Still Whacking
They never give up. As I have said before, they will never give up until only Gods are qualified to drive trucks. Now in a blatant attempt to suck 5.25 billion dollars out of the pockets of truck drivers, the FMCSA is saying that without any proof that sleep apnea is a factor is crashes out on the highway, they are once again whacking at forcing us drivers to pay to be tested and buy the equipment. Just a second here, Anne Ferro just the other day during a interview on national radio said that there was no proof that a new driver was involved in more wrecks so no standards for new drivers were needed. Well, there is no proof that sleep apnea is a cause in wrecks yet we need sleep apnea. Why the difference you might ask? Cheap labor for the big trucking companies and a cash cow for their friends in the sleep apnea community perhaps?
You be the judge then get involved. This will force thousands of safe drivers out of the industry added to the unemployment lines while adding to the cost of everyday products like food and clothing for everyone. This money grab, or is it a power grab; will be paid for by every person that benefit from truckers delivering America. Read the article, get involved.
FMCSA seeks comments on obstructive sleep apnea
By Land Line staff
Truckers have been hearing about recommendations the Medical Review Board is pressing on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration concerning obstructive sleep apnea – and now truckers have their chance to comment.
The recommendations stem from a joint meeting of the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee and the Medical Review Board. The recommendations include criteria for certification, conditional certification and disqualification of drivers with obstructive sleep apnea.
Some of the recommendations included in the notice for comment are:
Drivers with a BMI of 35 or greater to be certified for 60 days pending sleep study and treatment, followed by a 90-day certification if they’re compliant during first 60 days, followed by a one-year certification.
•Clinicians may cite any combination of possible factors to require or recommend sleep labs. For example, drivers who are male and postmenopausal females with a BMI of 28 or greater, who have experienced a single-vehicle crash or have a 17-inch neck (male) or 15.5-inch neck (female) should be prepared to prove they don’t have sleep apnea. Other factors include being 42 or older, family history, and having a small jaw or airway.
•Commercial drivers diagnosed with apnea may not be unconditionally certified medically to receive their CDL, and must instead use a CPAP at least four hours a day for 70 percent of days.
•Any driver who reports excessive sleepiness during “the major wake period,” or experiences a crash associated with falling asleep, or has been found to be non-compliant in using a CPAP should be disqualified or immediately denied certification.
OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer, who serves on MCSAC, has spoken out against the recommendations on behalf of members.
“While there is plenty to indicate some commercial truck drivers have sleep apnea, we find virtually nothing to indicate that that is a factor in increased likelihood of crashes,” Spencer said following the most recent MCSAC meeting. “That’s what motor carrier safety needs to be all about. It needs to be focusing on crashes. But, nevertheless, if there is an opportunity to make some money and there are some people recognizing that opportunity – they’re going to seize the moment.
In addition to setting criteria for granting qualification to drivers with sleep apnea, and who should be tested, the recommendations also state that the preferred treatment is positive airway pressure (PAP).
“All individuals with OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) should be referred to a clinician with relevant experience,” the recommendation up for comment states.
It also goes on to state “PAP is the preferred OSA therapy.”
Given the wide variety of treatments available and the costs associated with the testing to diagnose sleep apnea, OOIDA is skeptical of the real motivation behind these recommendations.
“It’s kind of an issue that’s looking for a place where it can receive gobs of money is certainly what it looks like to me,” Spencer said.
The OOIDA Foundation researched cost of sleep labs and calculated that 49 percent of the 3.5 million commercial truck drivers have a BMI of 30 or greater. If that number of drivers is required to undergo sleep lab exams, such a rule would cost truckers $5.25 billion.
“That is a tremendous economic price for our industry to have to absorb,” Spencer said. “Of course, in this instance we’re primarily talking about individual drivers paying this.”
The recommendations are not in a notice of proposed rulemaking. The agency is simply seeking comments on the recommendations. The recommendations can be ignored by FMCSA or implemented as guidance for medical examiners conducting DOT physicals.
The notice seeking comments will publish in the Federal Register on Friday, April 20. The agency will accept comments for 30 days.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
They never give up. As I have said before, they will never give up until only Gods are qualified to drive trucks. Now in a blatant attempt to suck 5.25 billion dollars out of the pockets of truck drivers, the FMCSA is saying that without any proof that sleep apnea is a factor is crashes out on the highway, they are once again whacking at forcing us drivers to pay to be tested and buy the equipment. Just a second here, Anne Ferro just the other day during a interview on national radio said that there was no proof that a new driver was involved in more wrecks so no standards for new drivers were needed. Well, there is no proof that sleep apnea is a cause in wrecks yet we need sleep apnea. Why the difference you might ask? Cheap labor for the big trucking companies and a cash cow for their friends in the sleep apnea community perhaps?
You be the judge then get involved. This will force thousands of safe drivers out of the industry added to the unemployment lines while adding to the cost of everyday products like food and clothing for everyone. This money grab, or is it a power grab; will be paid for by every person that benefit from truckers delivering America. Read the article, get involved.
FMCSA seeks comments on obstructive sleep apnea
By Land Line staff
Truckers have been hearing about recommendations the Medical Review Board is pressing on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration concerning obstructive sleep apnea – and now truckers have their chance to comment.
The recommendations stem from a joint meeting of the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee and the Medical Review Board. The recommendations include criteria for certification, conditional certification and disqualification of drivers with obstructive sleep apnea.
Some of the recommendations included in the notice for comment are:
Drivers with a BMI of 35 or greater to be certified for 60 days pending sleep study and treatment, followed by a 90-day certification if they’re compliant during first 60 days, followed by a one-year certification.
•Clinicians may cite any combination of possible factors to require or recommend sleep labs. For example, drivers who are male and postmenopausal females with a BMI of 28 or greater, who have experienced a single-vehicle crash or have a 17-inch neck (male) or 15.5-inch neck (female) should be prepared to prove they don’t have sleep apnea. Other factors include being 42 or older, family history, and having a small jaw or airway.
•Commercial drivers diagnosed with apnea may not be unconditionally certified medically to receive their CDL, and must instead use a CPAP at least four hours a day for 70 percent of days.
•Any driver who reports excessive sleepiness during “the major wake period,” or experiences a crash associated with falling asleep, or has been found to be non-compliant in using a CPAP should be disqualified or immediately denied certification.
OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer, who serves on MCSAC, has spoken out against the recommendations on behalf of members.
“While there is plenty to indicate some commercial truck drivers have sleep apnea, we find virtually nothing to indicate that that is a factor in increased likelihood of crashes,” Spencer said following the most recent MCSAC meeting. “That’s what motor carrier safety needs to be all about. It needs to be focusing on crashes. But, nevertheless, if there is an opportunity to make some money and there are some people recognizing that opportunity – they’re going to seize the moment.
In addition to setting criteria for granting qualification to drivers with sleep apnea, and who should be tested, the recommendations also state that the preferred treatment is positive airway pressure (PAP).
“All individuals with OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) should be referred to a clinician with relevant experience,” the recommendation up for comment states.
It also goes on to state “PAP is the preferred OSA therapy.”
Given the wide variety of treatments available and the costs associated with the testing to diagnose sleep apnea, OOIDA is skeptical of the real motivation behind these recommendations.
“It’s kind of an issue that’s looking for a place where it can receive gobs of money is certainly what it looks like to me,” Spencer said.
The OOIDA Foundation researched cost of sleep labs and calculated that 49 percent of the 3.5 million commercial truck drivers have a BMI of 30 or greater. If that number of drivers is required to undergo sleep lab exams, such a rule would cost truckers $5.25 billion.
“That is a tremendous economic price for our industry to have to absorb,” Spencer said. “Of course, in this instance we’re primarily talking about individual drivers paying this.”
The recommendations are not in a notice of proposed rulemaking. The agency is simply seeking comments on the recommendations. The recommendations can be ignored by FMCSA or implemented as guidance for medical examiners conducting DOT physicals.
The notice seeking comments will publish in the Federal Register on Friday, April 20. The agency will accept comments for 30 days.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Zimmerman/Martin Shooting
Today's Thoughts 4/14/12 Zimmerman/Martin Shooting
Good-bye Casey and hello Zimmerman/Martin shooting. Boy oh boy, talking about hitting the jackpot. Florida has stepped in it twice now in just a short bit of a time. First, we find out that the state has absolutely no proof to convict Casey, then we find out that for some reason, they do not even have enough to arrest Zimmerman. So we find ourselves, for some reason, with a young seventeen-year-old boy in a man's body laying dead in the streets of a small Florida town. I am thinking the last place I would want to find myself right about now is anywhere in the Florida State government. Because no matter which way you decide to go, the other side is standing there just waiting to bust your butt.
That is the problem I see with what is going on in Florida. The other side, or should I say the other side's making sure I kick in the fact that there are several different sides involved in this case. First, of course I want to mention the Mother and the family of this young man. Definitely if this was my son, I would want to know why my son was killed. Then if it were indeed murder, I would demand justice. My heart goes out to the family and hope they find the answers they seek. I know it will not bring back their son, but hopefully it will bring a little closer.
Then of course, we have Zimmerman, the shooter. Was he or was he not standing his ground and just defending himself? Depending on whom you ask, you will get a different answer according to what side of the story you believe. Of course, we have about a gazillion different factions out there pushing their own agenda with their own version of what needs to happen. Out of all those groups, I think it has to be the race baiters that get me the most. What century are these people still living in?
Now I know that I am about the least politically correct person out here. I keep myself this way on purpose because I do not want to let political correctness rule my life so bear with me if you would and let me see if I can do this somewhat correctly. I want to tell you a little storey that happened to me a few years back down in Miami, Florida on Doctors Kings birthday.
I was dispatched to pick up at a freezer with an address located on MLK BLVD. As you might guess, they had the street closed down for block parties and I had to detour a few streets over through the local side streets to get to my pick up. As you might also guess, I was the only white boy within a ten-mile radius. Scared, I guess I was. However, as I drove down through these streets packed with black guy after black guy, I noticed something. I was the only one worried about this white boy being there. Everyone else was having a great time offering me drinks and food to eat. The kids were yelling for me to blow my air horn and I even got a few smiles from some pretty girls. By the time I had made it back out on MLK, I was thinking "AWESOME" what a cool ride.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago where some of you might recall I had found myself involved in a wreck just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Again, I find myself standing there with two other white guys this time that were involved also. Now out of all the traffic that you know was on that interstate during early morning rush hour, it was three black women that pulled over their cars to make sure that we white guys were ok. The one guy that was extremely shook up, they escorted him to their car and had him take a seat and watched over him until the EMT's arrived on scene. These women did this because not only did their parents instill into them a caring nature for all human beings, but the ethics and morals that they live their life by dictated to them that regardless of the skin color, help was needed and these Angels of Mercy sent by their perspective Gods were there to lend a hand.
Now I want to tell you right about here, I used the terms white guy and black guy but the plain fact of the matter is that above the fact that we are all human, we are regardless of our skin color Americans. I have been at the scene of many of wrecks before any official shows up, and I have never seen skin color make a difference as to who jumps in to help or who gets help being pulled out of the wreck. It just does not matter.
So what, I am sure you are asking by now; does all this have to do with the Zimmerman/Martin shooting? Just this little fact, we common folks like you and I; we do not much care about racism anymore. We are all just ordinary Americans going about our ordinary lives. We live together as friends and work side-by-side every day.
It is only when someone from the top, like a politician needing to gain votes or a news outlet wanting to increase their viewer's do we find ourselves looking at racism again. Of course, on the lower end we have every radical group from every skin color you can think of jumping in trying to get their notoriety in as well. They beat the story to death over and over until some nut case finally does something stupid and then they claim to be the ones that can save us from all the evils of the world. Well,the fact is that if they had just stood back as professional politicians and news people or just stopped smoking the crack I am sure most of these radicals must be smoking, we as Americans would find ourselves through these difficult situations just fine all by ourselves and come out the other side a more United Nation.
Ignore these idiots. Take down their names of course so that you can be sure not to vote for politicians that try to gain votes by dividing us or add to the profits of those that profit form dividing us. But in short just ignore them. Sit back and let the legal system do what it is intended to do and we will be just fine in the end. I am not saying that you will see the verdict in this case the verdict you think is right. I am just saying that in the end, we will be a better off Nation as a whole if we just ignore these idiots that try to divide us for their own gain.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Good-bye Casey and hello Zimmerman/Martin shooting. Boy oh boy, talking about hitting the jackpot. Florida has stepped in it twice now in just a short bit of a time. First, we find out that the state has absolutely no proof to convict Casey, then we find out that for some reason, they do not even have enough to arrest Zimmerman. So we find ourselves, for some reason, with a young seventeen-year-old boy in a man's body laying dead in the streets of a small Florida town. I am thinking the last place I would want to find myself right about now is anywhere in the Florida State government. Because no matter which way you decide to go, the other side is standing there just waiting to bust your butt.
That is the problem I see with what is going on in Florida. The other side, or should I say the other side's making sure I kick in the fact that there are several different sides involved in this case. First, of course I want to mention the Mother and the family of this young man. Definitely if this was my son, I would want to know why my son was killed. Then if it were indeed murder, I would demand justice. My heart goes out to the family and hope they find the answers they seek. I know it will not bring back their son, but hopefully it will bring a little closer.
Then of course, we have Zimmerman, the shooter. Was he or was he not standing his ground and just defending himself? Depending on whom you ask, you will get a different answer according to what side of the story you believe. Of course, we have about a gazillion different factions out there pushing their own agenda with their own version of what needs to happen. Out of all those groups, I think it has to be the race baiters that get me the most. What century are these people still living in?
Now I know that I am about the least politically correct person out here. I keep myself this way on purpose because I do not want to let political correctness rule my life so bear with me if you would and let me see if I can do this somewhat correctly. I want to tell you a little storey that happened to me a few years back down in Miami, Florida on Doctors Kings birthday.
I was dispatched to pick up at a freezer with an address located on MLK BLVD. As you might guess, they had the street closed down for block parties and I had to detour a few streets over through the local side streets to get to my pick up. As you might also guess, I was the only white boy within a ten-mile radius. Scared, I guess I was. However, as I drove down through these streets packed with black guy after black guy, I noticed something. I was the only one worried about this white boy being there. Everyone else was having a great time offering me drinks and food to eat. The kids were yelling for me to blow my air horn and I even got a few smiles from some pretty girls. By the time I had made it back out on MLK, I was thinking "AWESOME" what a cool ride.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago where some of you might recall I had found myself involved in a wreck just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Again, I find myself standing there with two other white guys this time that were involved also. Now out of all the traffic that you know was on that interstate during early morning rush hour, it was three black women that pulled over their cars to make sure that we white guys were ok. The one guy that was extremely shook up, they escorted him to their car and had him take a seat and watched over him until the EMT's arrived on scene. These women did this because not only did their parents instill into them a caring nature for all human beings, but the ethics and morals that they live their life by dictated to them that regardless of the skin color, help was needed and these Angels of Mercy sent by their perspective Gods were there to lend a hand.
Now I want to tell you right about here, I used the terms white guy and black guy but the plain fact of the matter is that above the fact that we are all human, we are regardless of our skin color Americans. I have been at the scene of many of wrecks before any official shows up, and I have never seen skin color make a difference as to who jumps in to help or who gets help being pulled out of the wreck. It just does not matter.
So what, I am sure you are asking by now; does all this have to do with the Zimmerman/Martin shooting? Just this little fact, we common folks like you and I; we do not much care about racism anymore. We are all just ordinary Americans going about our ordinary lives. We live together as friends and work side-by-side every day.
It is only when someone from the top, like a politician needing to gain votes or a news outlet wanting to increase their viewer's do we find ourselves looking at racism again. Of course, on the lower end we have every radical group from every skin color you can think of jumping in trying to get their notoriety in as well. They beat the story to death over and over until some nut case finally does something stupid and then they claim to be the ones that can save us from all the evils of the world. Well,the fact is that if they had just stood back as professional politicians and news people or just stopped smoking the crack I am sure most of these radicals must be smoking, we as Americans would find ourselves through these difficult situations just fine all by ourselves and come out the other side a more United Nation.
Ignore these idiots. Take down their names of course so that you can be sure not to vote for politicians that try to gain votes by dividing us or add to the profits of those that profit form dividing us. But in short just ignore them. Sit back and let the legal system do what it is intended to do and we will be just fine in the end. I am not saying that you will see the verdict in this case the verdict you think is right. I am just saying that in the end, we will be a better off Nation as a whole if we just ignore these idiots that try to divide us for their own gain.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Friday, April 13, 2012
Pushy People
Today's Thoughts 4/13/12 Pushy People
Don’t you just love pushy people? Everyone trying to get to his or her destination, do his or her business; and then hurry back home again. Seems to me that if they are in such a rush to get home, why bother to leave in the first place. I guess though, that people have many different places that are important enough that they need to get there as fast s they can. And I guess that there are people that just are built in such a way that they need to get everywhere as fast as they can for no particular reason. I probably fit into this last category myself. The thing is as I see it, unless there is a life threatening situation going on, why do the rest of us have to have our life put into danger just so someone can get there fast just because they decide their need outweighs the rest of our lives.
I guess I started thinking about this yesterday morning on my way back to the house from my trip down to Miami. I was just south of Atlanta, Ga, listening to one of the trucking radio shows; and a truck driver had called in complaining that as a new truck driver he was continually being pushed by other truck drivers on the CB radio to go faster in situations that he was not comfortable to go faster in. I remember thinking to myself that one of the reasons that I never turn my CB on is because I, as a professional well seasoned truck driver, was tired of being pushed to drive faster then I felt comfortable to drive.
Let us not pick on just the truck drivers here. Just look in your mirror and you will see vehicles of every kind back there two inches off your rear bumper bobbing back and forth trying to figure a way to get around you. It does not matter where you are or how fast you are going, someone will be back there and they will if for no other reason than to be the person out front, pass you. Then if my guess is right, slow down in front of you. Well, at least that is the way it seems to happen to me just about every time I am passed.
So what is there that can be done to deal with these pushy people? Not much really, unless you are a cop and have a ticket book handy. Truckers of course can be called in on and as for the cars that that drive in an unsafe manner, not much really at all. Sometimes if a driver is bad enough or unsafe enough, I have called the police. Yes they will come out if they have the man power and believe that they can do something to prevent a accident. But you cannot count on this and the time it takes for them to get there is way more time then it takes for this pushy drive r to push you into a accident.
The driver that I had been listening to talking on the radio went on to say that he would get on his CB radio and tell the drivers behind him that he was doing the best he could with the experience he had. I am thinking big mistake doing that. I have learned the hard way over the years that the chance of you getting an understanding driver that will back off and allow you to be safe is not very likely. No matter if the person behind you is in a car or a truck, they are not interested in nothing else then being in front of you. If they were, they would not be pushing you in the first place. Trying to make contact and reasoning with them only results in a argument in most cases. In some cases as I have learned, they will come around you eventually and try to teach you how to get out of their way. The methods used on me over the years have included running me off the road. So trying to reason with them is something I do not even attempt anymore.
The best way I have found to deal with pushy drivers is to just ignore them. I want you to notice that I said to ignore them, not to not keep an eye on them. While making some kind of contact with them can become dangerous, you still have to watch them for any sudden unsafe actions that you can count on them making. You know they are going to do it, get in front of you that is and at any cost to boot. Also the safer you are driving only means the crazier they will get to get around you. That is the same argument that I have been having for years. Is it better to drive safe, or is it better to drive legal? Because the two of them do not always go hand in hand as you learn with experience. Personally, I always drive legal until it becomes unsafe to do so. Then I get myself out of that situation as quickly as I can and then go back to driving legal. I would rather get a ticket and save someone's life then to drive legal and kill them.
Anyway, this is what I have found you have to do with pushy people out on the road. Keeping yourself safe and out of an accident is a mindset when it comes to dealing with them. Just relax and keep a close eye on them and when it is safe to do so, help them get around you as safely as possible. Anything beyond that will find you in a bad situation. Anything short of that is their decision and nothing much you can do about what they decide to do.
I wish there was a cure for pushy drivers. I thought about it for years and the only thing that I can come up with to get them off the road is to not make roads. There are over three hundred million people in this country. Look hard enough and eventually you will find two of them that disagree on how to drive. It only takes one of them to push you into a accident. Only if you let them though, the decision is yours.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Don’t you just love pushy people? Everyone trying to get to his or her destination, do his or her business; and then hurry back home again. Seems to me that if they are in such a rush to get home, why bother to leave in the first place. I guess though, that people have many different places that are important enough that they need to get there as fast s they can. And I guess that there are people that just are built in such a way that they need to get everywhere as fast as they can for no particular reason. I probably fit into this last category myself. The thing is as I see it, unless there is a life threatening situation going on, why do the rest of us have to have our life put into danger just so someone can get there fast just because they decide their need outweighs the rest of our lives.
I guess I started thinking about this yesterday morning on my way back to the house from my trip down to Miami. I was just south of Atlanta, Ga, listening to one of the trucking radio shows; and a truck driver had called in complaining that as a new truck driver he was continually being pushed by other truck drivers on the CB radio to go faster in situations that he was not comfortable to go faster in. I remember thinking to myself that one of the reasons that I never turn my CB on is because I, as a professional well seasoned truck driver, was tired of being pushed to drive faster then I felt comfortable to drive.
Let us not pick on just the truck drivers here. Just look in your mirror and you will see vehicles of every kind back there two inches off your rear bumper bobbing back and forth trying to figure a way to get around you. It does not matter where you are or how fast you are going, someone will be back there and they will if for no other reason than to be the person out front, pass you. Then if my guess is right, slow down in front of you. Well, at least that is the way it seems to happen to me just about every time I am passed.
So what is there that can be done to deal with these pushy people? Not much really, unless you are a cop and have a ticket book handy. Truckers of course can be called in on and as for the cars that that drive in an unsafe manner, not much really at all. Sometimes if a driver is bad enough or unsafe enough, I have called the police. Yes they will come out if they have the man power and believe that they can do something to prevent a accident. But you cannot count on this and the time it takes for them to get there is way more time then it takes for this pushy drive r to push you into a accident.
The driver that I had been listening to talking on the radio went on to say that he would get on his CB radio and tell the drivers behind him that he was doing the best he could with the experience he had. I am thinking big mistake doing that. I have learned the hard way over the years that the chance of you getting an understanding driver that will back off and allow you to be safe is not very likely. No matter if the person behind you is in a car or a truck, they are not interested in nothing else then being in front of you. If they were, they would not be pushing you in the first place. Trying to make contact and reasoning with them only results in a argument in most cases. In some cases as I have learned, they will come around you eventually and try to teach you how to get out of their way. The methods used on me over the years have included running me off the road. So trying to reason with them is something I do not even attempt anymore.
The best way I have found to deal with pushy drivers is to just ignore them. I want you to notice that I said to ignore them, not to not keep an eye on them. While making some kind of contact with them can become dangerous, you still have to watch them for any sudden unsafe actions that you can count on them making. You know they are going to do it, get in front of you that is and at any cost to boot. Also the safer you are driving only means the crazier they will get to get around you. That is the same argument that I have been having for years. Is it better to drive safe, or is it better to drive legal? Because the two of them do not always go hand in hand as you learn with experience. Personally, I always drive legal until it becomes unsafe to do so. Then I get myself out of that situation as quickly as I can and then go back to driving legal. I would rather get a ticket and save someone's life then to drive legal and kill them.
Anyway, this is what I have found you have to do with pushy people out on the road. Keeping yourself safe and out of an accident is a mindset when it comes to dealing with them. Just relax and keep a close eye on them and when it is safe to do so, help them get around you as safely as possible. Anything beyond that will find you in a bad situation. Anything short of that is their decision and nothing much you can do about what they decide to do.
I wish there was a cure for pushy drivers. I thought about it for years and the only thing that I can come up with to get them off the road is to not make roads. There are over three hundred million people in this country. Look hard enough and eventually you will find two of them that disagree on how to drive. It only takes one of them to push you into a accident. Only if you let them though, the decision is yours.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
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